The webinar brought together speakers from different fields of expertise who offered complementary perspectives on the Church’s mission in the digital environment, combining theological reflection, synodal discernment, pastoral experience, and practical witness.
In his opening remarks, Msgr. Lucio Ruiz, Secretary of the Dicastery for Communication, presented digital culture as a new missionary territory. He encouraged the Church to inhabit it with a spirit of listening, dialogue, and accompaniment, leading people from online encounters to Christ and the life of the Church.
Drawing on her experience as former coordinator of Study Group 3 of the Synod on Synodality, Prof. Kim Daniels highlighted the capacity of the digital world to foster listening, participation, shared responsibility, and to reach people who often feel excluded from or are not reached by traditional Church settings. At the same time, she warned against the risks of polarization, echo chambers, and dehumanization, calling for digital mission to be fully integrated into the Church through formation, accompaniment, and institutional support. She concluded by stressing that digital evangelization should always lead people from online encounter to the embodied life of the local Church.
Approaching the digital environment through the lens of the theology of the gift, Fr. Andrew Reception proposed the contrast between the Tower of Babel and the “Synodal” City, inspired by Magnifica Humanitas, as a framework for discernment. He contrasted a culture of self-affirmation, technological control, and the reduction of the human person to data with a synodal vision rooted in truth, transparency, human dignity, and communion. He argued that digital communication should be shaped not by the logic of domination but by the logic of the gift, fostering authentic relationships and helping to build a culture in which God and humanity dwell together.
Drawing on her own experience as a digital missionary, Katie Prejean reflected on the responsibility of evangelizing online by asking herself two constant questions: Does this help or does it hurt? and Does it lead people to Christ or simply to me? She stressed that the internet is a real place where authentic relationships can begin and eventually grow into embodied encounters within the life of the Church. For her, the goal of every digital interaction is not to build an audience but to accompany people towards Jesus Christ. She concluded that authenticity, joy, and a constant examination of one’s intentions are essential if the digital environment is to become a true space of evangelization.
We warmly invite you to watch the full webinar to explore these reflections in greater depth. In addition to the complete presentations, you will discover the inspiring good practices shared by the speakers, as well as the rich dialogue and exchange with participants that followed, offering further insights into how we can inhabit the digital world in a truly synodal and missionary way.
María Lamas, WUCWO School for Synodality
